SHS Film Reviews

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This film mixes feelings of brotherly love, familial connection, and the feeling of separation and isolation all in a single film. By setting up a competitive relationship of ribbing and snide remarks between David and his brother Jeff, it makes the rest of the film all the more poignant, etched with a deep layer of realism. The longing, regret, and pure heartache this sets up is real to the point where it suspends our disbelief for the entire rest of the storyline.

Watching this movie brought me back to when I was young, having found the movie on TV and begged my Mom to let me stay up late to watch the end. Little did I know how much the story would remind me of my relationship with my brother, and how much it would parallel my eventual departure from my own family. I wasn't brought on a crazy journey by an alien spacecraft, but I did go out seeking my own path only to be brought back years later and much the wiser. It's amazing how much you miss your family, and this movie really brings that feeling out.

Between the memories of watching it as a child and the parallels I feel between the story and my own life (oblique as they may be), I think this movie simply overloads my nostalgia receptors. Not to say that I dislike the movie, but it's definitely an emotionally draining experience after which I always feel the need to call my family. However, I have a nagging suspicion that's exactly the point of the film... to tap into those feelings of guilt brought by distance and time, and true strength of the familial connection.

Long story short, go check this movie out if you haven't already. It's a classic 80s/90s film, and perfect for siblings born in that era. Give it a watch with your brother or sister, give them a huge hug, then go call your mother and father ya brat.

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I kept scrolling past Manchester by the Sea on Amazon Prime Video wondering why it was so highly rated on IMDB, until I finally watched it this afternoon.

This movie is an astounding example of the power of stillness, and things left unsaid. From the nearly constant locked down camera angles to the complexity of emotions written between the lines of dialogue, this film really uses the power of scripting and camera motion (or a lack thereof) to its advantage.

First, the stillness of the camera is almost jarring. The consistency of each shot cutting to another still shot gives the feeling as though we're watching a slideshow, or looking at a series of paintings. Everything within the frame seems that much more important, as we aren't really panning past anything, but moreso staring at a static frame. Lonergan pushes this technique even further by adding motion to shots of particular importance, giving them a surreal quality, cueing us as to the shots' importance before the events in it even take place.

Second, the use of dialogue is fantastic. The script meanders and dances around the point in a way only the denizens of New England can, avoiding feelings of regret and remorse with a sarcastic comment, dismissive glance, or by simply changing the subject. The characters manifest their anger and frustration in self-destructive and hyper-realistic ways, bringing us deeper into the fold of the story. As things progress, there is a link drawn between the

As things progress, there is a link drawn between the motion and framing of the camera and particularly emotional scenes, culminating when Lee Chandler (played by Casey Affleck) has a conversation with his ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams). The conversation start with the most subtle tension, slowly building around mundane conversation by changing tone and volume, until Randi finally breaks down and confronts the tension between them.

The shot is unapologetically still, showing the two of them divided perfectly by the corner of a wall behind them. The wall marks the difference between them, with Randi confronting their reality and Lee simply avoiding it. Finally, when Lee walks away the camera angle shifts, leaving Randi alone on her half of the wall and nothing left where Lee once stood. This subconsciously disengages him from the scene, leaving Lee alone to support herself and her feelings.

Techniques like these are used throughout the film, with some being too big of a point in the storyline to discuss here. Another fantastic film, totally worth checking out. Let me know what you thought in the comments, I'd love to hear more opinions, but keep the spoilers to a minimum (or at least give us an alert first!).

Manchester By the Sea - Full Cast & Crew. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4034228/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

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April 09 2017

Written By

Stefan Fulton

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I remember being shown the movie Drive by a girl I was dating at the time, thinking it was just going to be another ode to how pretty Ryan Gosling is, and being pleasantly surprised at how overall amazing this film truly is. Fantastic acting, nuanced storyline, and great action aside, the lighting in this movie really stands out.

The feel of the lighting in Drive jumps between film noir at night and 70s west coast style during the day, creating a sense of duplicity within the film. They apply the same sort of technique to lighting the main character, a mild-mannered and kind stunt driver during the day while moonlighting as a cold and calculated getaway driver for hire at night.

In scenes where Gosling’s character is meant to be seen as kindhearted and innocent, the lighting on his face becomes more broad, sometimes in full lighting but often in a closed loop setup with a touch of backlighting from a set of large windows, as seen in the shot below. In this scene, Ryan speaks to a mother and her child who just moved into the building, coming across as a gentle and well-mannered neighbor.

In the shot below, Ryan’s character (listed simply as “Driver” in the credits), is mid-interrogation, attempting to intimidate someone who had hired him to work under false pretenses. Here we see a much more extreme lighting, with the key light being played by the Motel room window to his left, and a faint kicker along his right cheek. That kicker plays a huge part in making him seem strong and intimidating, lighting up his jaw and cheekbones while leaving his face mostly in darkness.

In the future, I plan to shoot lots of music videos and action sequences, so this will be an extremely helpful technique when it comes to making performers and actors look as intimidating and powerful as possible. I’m realizing that I’ve previously used too much light, and using one or two sources for a higher contrast effect would have been better than simply filling the scene with light. As shown in the bottom screenshot, a little darkness on the face can go a long way.

The bottom screenshot is a sequence where Ryan's character is in a full on fight, the key light is the elevator light to his right, and he's getting backlit and an almost kicker from the ceiling lights as he's looking down. I felt I had to include this shot for one reason; the walls of the elevator seem to be a sort of semi-reflective brushed aluminum, yet the front of his face isn't being lit at all. I'm under the impression that they actually put a negative fill on the wall in front of him, actively removing the light from his face for a higher contrast effect.

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In Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist (1970), a distinct film noir vibe hangs in the air. The lighting tends to be low-key and subdued, carrying a palpable flavour of intrigue and deception. In this shot, the lighting plays a major role in setting not only the scene but the mood.

By using either a focused light like a Fresnel, strong HMI lights, or a bare bulb, horizontal lines of light could be cast through the blinds and across the set. Based on those lines we can infer that the blinds have been mostly closed, concealing this scene from the outside world. Also, the angular nature of the light casts the scene almost on a tilt, as if to upset the scene further.

By lighting the scene as he did, we can also infer details about the characters. For instance, they might be trying to conceal their passion, casting a shadow of secrecy over the scene. Even at it’s most basic level, the use of such distinct lighting simply causes us to question the motivation of the scene, deeply affecting the mood of whatever might actually be happening in the scene by completely subverting it.

According to Filmmaker IQ’s video The Basics of Lighting for Film Noir, Film Noir tends toward using harder lights vs soft lights, which create well-defined shadows and deep contrast. The genre tends use shadows of people, props, or hard contrast to create greater depth within a scene. In this scene, they might have been using a cookie or gobo to create those horizontal lines, adding an extra layer of depth to the scene.

By adding this additional layer of depth to the scene, the lighting creates an extra layer of emotion in the scene. Without that light, the scene would be relatively low contrast and dimly lit. With the introduction of that light, the scene takes on much more depth, which cues us visually to a more dramatic scene.

After watching the whole film, it becomes clear just how much lighting really adds to the mood and emotion of a scene, as a lot of the film’s drama actually originates in the lighting. As each character is relatively subdued and mild mannered, and many of the sets are relatively simple and pretty, the lighting is what really sets the air of expectation and apprehension, as if something big could happen at any moment. By choosing to make the lighting so dramatic in comparison to the content of some scenes, the director does an amazing job of showing you what is coming instead of telling you or letting the script lead you to a conclusion on what will happen. There’s a constant expectation for violence and dramatic tension, which slowly builds over the course of the film.

In particular, this scene embodies that apprehension. While both characters embrace passionately, there is a subtext of infidelity, espionage, even hiding their passion from the curious maid in the other room. Using such solid horizontal lines of light at such a hard angle changes what could have been a scene of happy reunion to a moment of secretive, deceptive, and nervous passion.

F. (2013, May 11). The Basics of Lighting for Film Noir. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsmVL7SDp5Y